For small cell applications in mobile broadband heterogeneous networks, WiFi—i.e. access via Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)—is today considered a key solution. There is currently an intense activity on a global basis on how to integrate WiFi with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) communication networks in order to offer, in a similar fashion as any 3GPP radio access technology, WiFi integrated with the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core (EPC), i.e. the core network in the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, where the access authentication and authorization is controlled through the network.
Prior art methods exist where the EPC network can be accessed via WiFi, where the WiFi access is authenticated using Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) based authentication methods utilizing for instance Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) methods, such as EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA (“Authentication and Key Agreement”) or EAP-AKA′, towards the same network entities as are used for 3GPP. For non-SIM Devices such as tablets or laptops, solutions exist where the devices are authenticated through non-SIM based authentication methods, e.g. the well-known EAP-TLS (“Transport Layer Security”).
Currently, for 2G/3G/4G access, Mobile Equipment Identity check procedures between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) and a so called Equipment Identity Register (EIR) has been specified. However, there is not yet a solution for non-SIM device identity check when it connects to operator core network via WiFi. As such, operators are not able to control the WiFI access of a non-SIM device when the device is faulty or blacklisted, which is a security risk.